Editing Atacama Large Millimeter Array (section)

==Scientific results==

===Images from initial testing===
[[Image:Antennae Galaxies composite of ALMA and Hubble observations.jpg|thumb|[[Antennae Galaxies]] composite of ALMA and [[Hubble Space Telescope|Hubble]] observations]]
[[File:HL_Tau_protoplanetary_disk.jpg|thumb|[[HL Tauri]] protoplanetary disk.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://public.nrao.edu/news/pressreleases/planet-formation-alma|title=Birth of Planets Revealed in Astonishing Detail in ALMA's 'Best Image Ever' - NRAO: Revealing the Hidden Universe|work=nrao.edu}}</ref>]]

By the summer of 2011, sufficient telescopes were operational during the extensive program of testing prior to the Early Science phase for the first images to be captured.<ref>{{cite news|title=ALMA Opens its Eyes|url=http://www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-room/press-releases/297-alma-opens-its-eyes|access-date=4 October 2011|newspaper=ALMA Press Release|date=3 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005042527/http://www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-room/press-releases/297-alma-opens-its-eyes|archive-date=5 October 2011}}</ref> These early images gave a first glimpse of the potential of the new array that will produce much better quality images in the future as the scale of the array continues to increase.

The target of the observation was a pair of colliding galaxies with dramatically distorted shapes, known as the [[Antennae Galaxies]]. Although ALMA did not observe the entire galaxy merger, the result is the best submillimeter-wavelength image ever made of the Antennae Galaxies, showing the clouds of dense cold gas from which new stars form, which cannot be seen using visible light.

===Comet studies===
On 11 August 2014, astronomers released studies, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) for the first time, that detailed the distribution of [[Hydrogen cyanide|HCN]], [[Hydrogen isocyanide|HNC]], [[Formaldehyde|H<sub>2</sub>CO]], and [[dust]] inside the [[Coma (cometary)|comae]] of [[comet]]s [[C/2012 F6 (Lemmon)]] and [[Comet ISON|C/2012 S1 (ISON)]].<ref name="NASA-20140811">{{cite web |last1=Zubritsky |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Neal-Jones |first2=Nancy |title=RELEASE 14-038 - NASA's 3-D Study of Comets Reveals Chemical Factory at Work |url=http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/august/goddard/nasa-s-3-d-study-of-comets-reveals-chemical-factory-at-work |date=11 August 2014 |work=[[NASA]] |access-date=12 August 2014 }}</ref><ref name="AJL-20140811">{{cite journal |author=Cordiner, M.A. |title=Mapping the Release of Volatiles in the Inner Comae of Comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2012 S1 (ISON) Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array |date=11 August 2014 |journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]] |volume=792 |number=1 |doi=10.1088/2041-8205/792/1/L2 |display-authors=etal|arxiv = 1408.2458 |bibcode = 2014ApJ...792L...2C |page=L2|s2cid=26277035 }}</ref>

===Planetary formation===
An image of the protoplanetary disc surrounding [[HL Tauri]] (a very young [[T Tauri star]]<ref>{{cite journal |title=In Search of HL Tauri |journal=The Astrophysical Journal Letters |first1=David A. |last1=Weintraub |first2=Joel H. |last2=Kastner |first3=Barbara A. |last3=Whitney |volume=452 |issue=2 |pages=L141–L145 |date=October 1995 |bibcode=1995ApJ...452L.141W |doi=10.1086/309720|doi-access= }}</ref> in the constellation [[Taurus (constellation)|Taurus]]) was made public in 2014, showing a series of concentric bright rings separated by gaps, indicating protoplanet formation. {{As of|2014}}, most theories did not expect planetary formation in such a young (100,000-1,000,000-year-old) system, so the new data spurred renewed theories of protoplanetary development. One theory suggests that the faster accretion rate might be due to the complex magnetic field of the protoplanetary disc.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Spatially resolved magnetic field structure in the disc of a T Tauri star |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |first1=Ian W. |last1=Stephens |first2=Leslie W. |last2=Looney |first3=Woojin |last3=Kwon |first4=Manuel |last4=Fernández-López |first5=A. Meredith |last5=Hughes |first6=Lee G. |last6=Mundy |first7=Richard M. |last7=Crutcher |first8=Zhi-Yun |last8=Li |first9=Ramprasad |last9=Rao |display-authors=5 |volume=514 |issue=7524 |pages=597–599 |date=October 2014 |arxiv=1409.2878 |bibcode=2014Natur.514..597S |doi=10.1038/nature13850 |pmid=25337883|s2cid=4396150 }}</ref>

In 2022 ALMA initiated a program called exoALMA, a very detailed survey of 15 protoplanetary disk systems with the aim of finding still forming exoplanets.<ref>{{Cite web |title=exoALMA |url=https://www.exoalma.com/home |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=www.exoalma.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Workshops |url=https://www.exoalma.com/workshops |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=www.exoalma.com |language=en-US}}</ref> 

=== Event Horizon Telescope ===
{{Main|Event Horizon Telescope}}
ALMA participated in the Event Horizon Telescope project, which produced the first direct image of a [[black hole]], published in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/first-image-black-hole-07079.html|title=Event Horizon Telescope Captures First Image of Black Hole {{!}} Astronomy {{!}} Sci-News.com|website=Breaking Science News {{!}} Sci-News.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-10}}</ref>

===Phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus===
ALMA participated in the claimed [[Life on Venus#Phosphine|detection of phosphine]], a biomarker, in the air of Venus. As no known non-biological source of phosphine on Venus could produce phosphine in the concentrations detected, this would have indicated the presence of biological organisms in the atmosphere of Venus.<ref name="Greaves et al">{{cite journal |last1=Greaves |first1=Jane S. |last2=Richards |first2=A.M.S. |last3=Bains |first3=W |title=Phosphine gas in the cloud decks of Venus |journal=Nature Astronomy |date=14 September 2020 |volume=5 |issue=7 |pages=655–664 |doi=10.1038/s41550-020-1174-4 |arxiv=2009.06593 |bibcode=2021NatAs...5..655G |s2cid=221655755 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1174-4#citeas |access-date=16 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sample |first1=Ian |title=Scientists find gas linked to life in atmosphere of Venus |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/14/scientists-find-gas-linked-to-life-in-atmosphere-of-venus |access-date=16 September 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=14 September 2020}}</ref> Later reanalyses cast doubt on the detection,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Villanueva|first1=Geronimo|last2=Cordiner|first2=Martin|last3=Irwin|first3=Patrick|last4=de Pater|first4=Imke|last5=Butler|first5=Bryan|last6=Gurwell|first6=Mark|last7=Milam|first7=Stefanie|last8=Nixon|first8=Conor|last9=Luszcz-Cook|first9=Statia|last10=Wilson|first10=Colin|last11=Kofman|first11=Vincent|year=2021|title=No phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus|journal=Nature Astronomy|volume=5|pages=631–635|doi=10.1038/s41550-021-01422-z|arxiv=2010.14305|s2cid=236090264}}</ref> although later analyses confirmed the results.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Clements |first1=David L. |date=12 January 2023 |title=Venus, Phosphine and the Possibility of Life |journal=Contemporary Physics |volume=63 |issue=3 |page=180 |doi=10.1080/00107514.2023.2184932 |arxiv=2301.05160 |bibcode=2022ConPh..63..180C }}</ref> The detection remains controversial, and is awaiting [[Life_on_Venus#Planned_measurements_of_phosphine_levels|additional measurements]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sansom |first1=Clare |title=The hellish chemistry of Venus' atmosphere |url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/the-hellish-chemistry-of-venus-atmosphere/4013145.article |work=Chemistry World |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cleland |first1=Carol E. |last2=Rimmer |first2=Paul B. |title=Ammonia and Phosphine in the Clouds of Venus as Potentially Biological Anomalies |journal=Aerospace |date=26 November 2022 |volume=9 |issue=12 |pages=752 |doi=10.3390/aerospace9120752|arxiv=2211.07786 |bibcode=2022Aeros...9..752C |doi-access=free }}</ref>